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Dan Deckelbaum and Tarek Razek, the Centre for Global Surgery

MONTREAL - With 90 per cent of deaths caused by serious injuries taking place in developing countries, the Centre for Global Surgery is an attempt by two McGill doctors to save lives.

"Injury represents the leading cause of death for those under 44 in the developing world," said Dan Deckelbaum, a trauma surgeon. "When we think of global health we think of malaria, HIV or tuberculosis, whereas injury causes as much death as all three combined."

With Tarek Razek, the director of the McGill's adult trauma program, Deckelbaum, directs the Centre for Global Surgery. With the help of volunteers from the McGill University Health Centre, the men send surgeons to help in the developing world.

"The way we get involved in a location is typically by invitation," said Razek. "We have a lot of capacity here in Canada in our healthcare system, despite sometimes what we think about it, and we get invited by local leadership that is trying to upgrade their capacity, where they really struggle."